TOPIC: MPAA Pushing for Early Digital Release to Homes...

...through an initiative it is trying to get implemented called 'Selectable Output Control' or SOC for short. SOC would effectively allow the MPAA's member studios (or any content provider for that matter) to selectively and remotely disable analog outputs on televisions in order to secure the digital transmission of content into households.

The MPAA has pressed the FCC to revise its ban on SOC that was originally established in 2003. The MPAA and certain of its distribution partners have been pushing for the removal of the SOC ban since mid-2008, but recently pressed the case in person in a waiver hearing in Washington, DC.

Of course, the MPAA is describing its position as "an incredibly pro-consumer development" and "the public interest groups’ objections to TV stations objecting to broadcasting in color when most TV sets were still black and white."

If this were to happen, could be a big blow to the exhibition industry, in my opinion.

I know there isn't anything quite like going and seeing a movie in the theater, but given the fact that the US is probably going to see elevated levels of unemployment and lower real wages over the intermediate term (2-4 years) and quite possibly longer, anything that consumers perceive as lowering their cost of entry/consumption, so to speak, would probably catch on quickly.